On 24 September 1942, B-25C Mitchell #41-12890,
"Sunsetter" of the 71st Bomb Squadron of the 38th Bomb Group
crashed at Charters Towers while on a
training flight. "Sunsetter" crashed into the steel rope of the flying
fox across the Burdekin River at the pumping station. The flying fox was used to
carry fire wood across the river to feed the steam driven water pumps.

Four American airmen were killed when the B-25
Mitchell crashed into some trees while trying to reach Breddan airfield. Those
killed were:-

There is an incorrect story circulating that the
four bodies were returned to America from Charters Towers in four coffins
obtained from Herbert Hall. They were in fact initially buried at the US
Military Cemetery at Belgian Gardens in Townsville. They were later exhumed
and reburied at the USAF Military
Cemetery at Manson Park in Ipswich in southern Queensland. During WW2,
Americans who were killed or died in Australia were buried in local cemeteries,
but in 1945, the bodies from around Australia were exhumed and temporarily
reinterred at the USAF Military
Cemetery in Ipswich or at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney. Then eventually all of
these bodies were exhumed again and taken back to the United States by ship.